Off the Record: Archaeology and Documentary Filmmaking
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URI [dataset] UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Archaeology Volume 1 of 1 Off the Record: Archaeology and Documentary Filmmaking Translated from her own manuscript by Kathryn Elizabeth Rogers Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2019 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Archaeology Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Off the Record: Archaeology and Documentary Filmmaking Kathryn Elizabeth Rogers Archaeologists have long expressed frustrations with how archaeology is portrayed in the documentary genre, contending that filmmakers and programme makers sensationalise, dumb-down, and misrepresent the study of the material past on screen. Yet, whilst we demand that “the media” broadly speaking, and “documentary” more specifically, should understand and represent our discipline in all its complexity, we must ask ourselves: are we willing to do the same in return? The purpose of this thesis is to locate archaeology’s place in documentary, and documentary’s place in archaeology. The aim is not to merely interject into the discourse on this matter but to reset the agenda, by profiling, problematizing, and reframing how archaeologists understand the relationship between the discipline of archaeology and the practice of documentary filmmaking, particularly with an eye to a UK context. To this purpose a mixed- methods strategy was undertaken, including: a survey of UK-based archaeologists profiling their experiences of and attitudes to archaeology documentaries; a historical survey of archaeology’s treatment in non-fiction filmmaking from the 1890s to the 2010s; and an autoethnographic study of the making of an archaeology documentary, as seen from the filmmaker’s perspective. By identifying and interrogating the instances of confusion, unease, and conflict that arise when these two fields converge, as well as those instances of shared benefit and similitude, this thesis seeks to cultivate a space for greater awareness, mutual understanding, honest dialogue and intellectual growth. Ultimately, I contend that archaeologists are filmmakers too, and despite the many tensions and misunderstandings between the two fields, nonfiction and documentary filmmaking has indeed played an overlooked and underappreciated role in the conception and development of archaeology as a discipline. Table of Contents Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... i List of Tables ................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures ................................................................................................................ ix List of Stills ..................................................................................................................... xi Academic Thesis: Declaration of Authorship................................................ xvii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... xix Definitions and Abbreviations .............................................................................. xxi Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................1 1.2 Previous research ..........................................................................2 1.3 My contribution .............................................................................4 1.4 Central research question ..............................................................5 1.5 Scope of study ...............................................................................5 1.6 Thesis outline ................................................................................6 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................... 9 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................9 2.2 How archaeologists define archaeology documentaries ................ 10 2.3 Archaeological perspectives on cinematic documentaries ............. 12 2.4 Archaeological perspectives on factual TV .................................... 14 2.4.1 Television as dissemination and outreach .............................. 14 2.4.2 Television as mediation ......................................................... 18 2.4.3 Television as theory .............................................................. 21 2.5 Archaeological perspectives on filmmaking as a scientific record . 24 2.5.1 Videography at Çatalhöyük ................................................... 25 2.5.2 Videography in the PATINA Project ........................................ 31 2.5.3 Emergent issues in filmmaking for scientific recording .......... 33 2.5.3.1 Filmmaking as a form of technology ............................... 33 2.5.3.2 Filmmaking as a form of surveillance .............................. 36 2.5.3.3 Filmmaking in the form of remixing ................................ 38 2.5.3.4 Filmmaking as “giving voice” ........................................... 39 i 2.5.3.5 Scientific recording and filmmaking terminology ............ 41 2.5.4 Further critiques regarding filmmaking as a scientific record. 42 2.6 Filmmaking as creative and collaborative community enquiry ...... 44 2.6.1 A creative treatment of archaeology ...................................... 44 2.6.2 Filmmaking as community co-production .............................. 46 2.7 Concluding thoughts .................................................................. 51 Chapter 3 The Off the Record Survey ................................................................ 55 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 55 3.2 Survey design and method of analysis ......................................... 56 3.2.1 Survey aims .......................................................................... 56 3.2.2 Survey objectives .................................................................. 56 3.2.3 Survey scope ........................................................................ 57 3.2.4 Questionnaire design ........................................................... 57 3.2.5 Survey sampling strategy and results .................................... 58 3.2.6 Method of survey data collection .......................................... 59 3.2.7 Survey ethics, anonymisation, and data protection ................ 60 3.2.8 Method of analysis ............................................................... 60 3.2.9 Comparative studies ............................................................. 62 3.3 The Off the Record survey findings .............................................. 64 3.3.1 Who is taking part, and how? ................................................ 64 3.3.2 Problems and concerns raised by archaeologists ................... 71 3.3.3 Aspirations, hopes, and desires for documentary held by archaeologists ................................................................. 82 3.3.4 Other survey findings and observations ................................ 89 3.3.5 Concluding thoughts ............................................................ 91 Chapter 4 Off the historical record I : archaeology and documentary filmmaking between the 1890s and 1940s ............................... 93 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................ 93 4.1.1 A word on primary source material ....................................... 94 4.1.2 Revisiting how archaeologists define archaeology documentaries ................................................................. 94 ii 4.1.3 How documentary theorists define documentary ................... 95 4.1.4 Historical survey scoping ...................................................... 98 4.1.5 Chapter outline ..................................................................... 98 4.2 1890s–1910s: Archaeological actualitès ..................................... 100 4.2.1 The Lumières and Les Pyramides ......................................... 100 4.2.2 The Edison Company and Sakkarah ..................................... 104 4.2.3 The Warwick Trading Company and the Stonehenge Panorama ...................................................................................... 105 4.2.4 Archaeology actualitès and modern audiences ....................